AUGUSTA (AP) — A candidate for the Maine Legislature is being charged with falsifying documents to show that he qualified for public funding under the Maine Clean Election Act.
Forty-two-year-old Michael Hein of Augusta was summonsed on a charge of theft by deception after an investigation by the Maine attorney general’s office.
He’s accused of using his own money to meet a small donation threshold that would have allowed him to receive about $1,400 in Clean Elections money for his primary campaign, and if he won that, another $3,900 for the general election.
A Maine Ethics Commission investigation found that Hein falsified forms signifying that donors had given him $5. Hein had until Wednesday to appeal the commission’s decision to deny him campaign funding but decided against an appeal.
The Times Record Sustaining Sponsor
We believe a community must be informed to thrive. bowdoin.edu
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less